1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of playing back an audio signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an increasing number of people address themselves to walking, jogging, or running for the purpose of health maintenance, health promotion, and/or dieting because of increasing awareness of health. In order to achieve a certain effect from such walking or running, it is necessary to continuously perform the walking or running for a quite a large amount of time (exercise including the walking, jogging, and running is hereinafter collectively referred to as “walking” for simplicity).
Audio players which walkers (users) can carry during walking and which are capable of playing back music pieces having tempos matching with the walking tempos of the walkers are proposed. The walking tempo denotes the number of steps per unit time, for example, per one minute. The music tempo denotes the number of beats per one minute. In this specification, the walking tempo is represented in units of steps per minute (spm) and the music tempo is represented in units of beats per minute (bpm).
With such audio players, the walkers can enjoy walking in rhythm with the music.
Related art concerning the above devices is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-156641.